Production of projectile and targetK X-rays by single and multiple electron-capture in collisions of Si14+ and Si13+ ions with argon atoms at 4.5 and 5.5 MeV/amu

Projectile and target X-ray cross-sections have been measured in collisions of bare and hydrogenlike Silicon ions with argon atoms. Projectile energies are 125 MeV and 153 MeV, i.e. the intermediate velocity region forK-shell capture. Coincidence measurements between X-ray photons and the scattered Si ⁿ⁺ projectiles with charge statesn-1,n-2 andn-3 have been made. The relative contribution of charge exchange and direct ionization (or excitation) of the targetK-shell has been obtained directly by this new method. DoubleK-shell electron transfer is demonstrated to be very large in the case of fully stripped Si ions. A thorough theoretical analysis of the data is carried out and multiple capture processes are evaluated using an independent electron model.